Careers

The Napa Communities Firewise Foundation (NCFF) is committed to reducing hazards from wildfire to
protect Napa County Communities. NCFF provides information, education, and vegetation thinning so
residents and visitors can live more safely with wildfire. NCFF projects greatly benefit wildfire suppression
access and response, while mitigating the impacts of environmental resources throughout Napa County.

POSITION SUMMARY
NCFF Vegetation Management Projects include scouting, planning, facilitating, and monitoring the creation
and/or maintenance of improved access along roads, community fuel breaks, strategic dozer lines/fuel
breaks, and forest health projects. This is done using best management practices by reducing hazardous
woody mass materials, reducing ladder fuels, and creating shaded or unshaded fuel breaks. Disposal
methods include chipping, pile burning, mastication, and other developing methods.

NCFF Project Leads work with the Project Lead Supervisor to help plan, facilitate, and monitor the
implementation of various projects. They oversee various contracted vendors to achieve environmental
compliance and eliminate and/or significantly reduce hazardous fuels. Project Leads work directly with
private landowners and within specific property boundaries. They also assist in planning and implementing
Fire Safe Council (FSC) funded projects, participate in FSC meetings, field tours, and other occasional events.
These positions require the ability to follow directions and work independently, utilize technology platforms
and systems, mapping, and a commitment to safety and compliance, with the ability to communicate with
vendors and landowners while collaborating with various NCFF departments. Strong documentation and
time management skills are critical while maintaining a sense of urgency to complete projects within
deadline.

This is a remote position, but Project Leads are required to visit project sites. Priority will be given to
candidates residing within 45 minutes from the City of Napa or St. Helena. The ability to speak Spanish and
experience with wildfire is also preferred.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBLITIES

Project Lead I (Technician)

• Work with private landowners and gain approval to work on their property or adjacent properties by using various outreach methods which include direct mail, phone calls, electronic means (text/email) and site visits.
• Educate landowners about Fire Science. Examples include ladder fuels, flame heights, wind, topography, etc.
• Plan logistics and operations at work sites through maps, landowner coordination, UTV transport/operation (as qualified), and chain saw use (as qualified).
• Provide flagging, marking and removal from project boundaries and WLPZ areas (following prescription).
• Assist NCFF outreach and education activities as needed (FSC meetings, event tabling, etc.).
• Provide general vendor oversight on assigned projects and approve quality and accuracy of work performed.
• Learn and utilize specific technology platforms to document project progress to ensure that information is digitally captured for project management, marketing/communications and grants administration. Familiarity with the Microsoft Office/Sharepoint/Teams environment a plus.
• Attend digital and in-person meetings and provide written and verbal reports on projects as required.

Project Lead II (Journeyman)

• All Project Lead I tasks.
• Support project design and permitting using working knowledge of CEQA.
• Manage landowner agreements and maintain landowner database.
• Draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Task Orders (TOs) as needed.
• Host bid walks, support vendor selection, and onboard new projects while following policy and procedure.
• Support communication with FSCs and landowners by occasionally relaying information to the public at the discretion of NCFF Leadership.
• Demonstrate excellent reading, writing and comprehension abilities. Produce clear and logical written materials from outreach, to reporting, to project proposals.
• Assist other NCFF programs and partners as needed which may include education, outreach, social media, VIP tours, etc.
• May have supervisory responsibilities

Project Lead III (Project Management)

• All Project Lead I and Project Lead II tasks.
• Propose new CWPP projects.
• Ability to respectfully educate landowners, stakeholders, and activists.
• Provide consultation on wildfire or prescribed fire effectiveness.
• Support expanded communication with FSCs and landowners through increased communication duties. This may include discussing projects with the media or others.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (Education, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to
successfully perform this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with
disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Experience Requirements:
Project Lead I

• Education and experience are equivalent to a high school diploma/GED and two years of position
  related experience.

Project Lead II

• Education and experience are equivalent to three years of position-related experience.
• Demonstrates excellent written and oral communication skills. Maintains professionalism and a positive demeanor.
• High confidence and accuracy in wildfire knowledge.
• Working knowledge of CEQA.

Project Lead III

• Education and experience equivalent to five -years of position-related project experience.
• Firefighter experience with wildfire firefighting experience.
• Experience as an RX Burn Boss and/or Forestry related experience (RPF, Forestry Technician, etc.) or has proven ability to comprehend and analyze hazardous fuel loads.

Knowledge, Ability and Skill Requirements:

• Ability to drive to and from project and meeting sites while meeting all CA vehicle laws.
• When driving a personal vehicle, must be insured under CA vehicle insurance requirements with the following coverage limits: $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 of property damage.
• Experience using Microsoft Office 365 including Word, Excel, SharePoint, Outlook, etc.
• Ability to learn GIS, Field Maps, and OnX Maps.
• Possess basic digital photography skills.
• Demonstrate high levels of interpersonal skills to gain and maintain public trust.
• Strong attention to detail in all aspects of the work including operations and documentation.
• Demonstrate strong team skills and show willingness to assist where needed within the NCFF mission.
• Demonstrate professional and respectful verbal and written communication with the ability to educate people from diverse backgrounds regarding Napa Firewise projects. Ability to communicate examples and experiences to convey project importance. Understand and communicate why pre-fire work is important and how our NCFF projects reduce hazards.
• Understanding of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and a commitment to maintaining client privacy.
• Ability to learn reporting techniques.
• Ability to work independently or as part of a team.
• Able to work effectively with minimal supervision in a remote environment.

Desired but not Required

• Experience with Monday.com or other project tracking applications, Field Maps, and GIS
• Working knowledge of cloud-based data management systems (SharePoint, Dropbox, etc.), shared files, and data organization
• Experience in forest management
• Experience with wildfires
• Knowledge of Biology/Botany/Ecology/Archaeology/ Civil Engineering
• Agricultural or Forestry background
• Ownership of a personal 4×4 vehicle with towing capacity of 3,000 pounds
• Ability to speak fluent Spanish
• Experience working in 501c3 nonprofit organization is desirable

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the
employee(s) of this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and
to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or
assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to
possible modification.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to
successfully perform the essential functions of this position.

• Visit job sites and landowners in a personal vehicle or NCFF vehicle on dirt roads, up steep
  driveways, or on rough terrain.
• Vision correctable to 20/20. Full-color vision is required to look at maps, polygons, and flag markers.
• Must have sufficient balance to climb stairs or hillsides and hike in remote and unknown conditions including rugged, steep and uneven terrain which may include at times crawling through brush, climbing over fallen trees, and/or crossing seasonal creeks. Must have the ability to navigate rough terrain on foot while flagging, collecting images, or verifying conditions
• Able and adept at working in environmental conditions and/or with environmental hazards found in nature, such as loose rocks, poison oak, ticks, snakes, and other natural conditions.
• Able to work in all weather conditions.
• While working in the back country environment, unknown hazards may occur including unknown people and/or wild animals. Must be comfortable and able to use good judgment when responding to these scenarios.
• Able to stand, bend, kneel, reach, stoop, and crawl.
• Able to lift up to 50 pounds and carry up to 30 pounds.
• Able to work indoors and sit at a computer for long periods of time.

NCFF is a grant-funded 501c3 nonprofit. All team members work closely with the Grant Administration
Department to document project details, track grant deliverables and archive photos to ensure successful
grant reporting.

You can download a copy of this job description here.